Holy Cross College and Fatima College were crowned winners of the Secondary Schools Basketball Association (TTSBA) 3x3 Basketball tournament, held on Friday and Saturday.
On Friday, action was held at the Maloney Indoor Sporting Complex and on day two the tournament continued at the Southern Regional Indoor Sporting Arena in Pleasantville.
In the Under-20 boys age group, Holy Cross won the gold medal match with a 13-9 victory over Pleasantville Secondary. In the third-place match, Queen's Royal College (QRC) defeated Hillview College 9-7.
Prior to the medal round, Holy Cross got past Hillview 14-8 and Pleasantville edged QRC 7-6 in the other semi-final.
Their was also an Under-17 category which ended in dramatic fashion. The final between Fatima and Hillview was tied at 11 at the end of regulation time, but the former held their nerve to emerge with a 13-11 victory.
In the third-place play-off, Holy Cross got past St Mary's College 8-4.
There were contrasting results in the semi-finals as Fatima romped to an 11-3 win in semi-final one. In semi-final two, Hillview won a close low scoring contest 5-3.
Girls got the opportunity to compete in exhibition matches as the association exposed them to 3x3 basketball also.
The TTSBA decided to have the 3x3 tournament following on the heels of TT's memorable achievement at the 2023 Pan American Games in Santiago, Chile which ended on Sunday.
TT won a bronze medal at the games, this country's best achievement in the history of basketball. The team included Moriba De Freitas, Chike Augustine and twin brothers Ahkeel and Ahkeem Boyd.
The goal of the schools tournament is to raise awareness about the 3x3 version of the game.
A release from the TTSBA on Monday showed results of the second day's action as follows:
U17 semi final 1:
St Mary's: 3
Fatima: 11
U17 semi final 2:
Holy Cross College: 3
Hillview: 5
U17 3rd place:
Holy Cross College: 8
St Mary's: 4
U20 semi final 1:
QRC: 6
Pleasantville: 7
U20 semi final 2:
Holy Cross College: 14
Hillview: 8
U20 3rd place:
Hillview: 7
QRC: 9
U20 Final
Pleasantville: 9
Holy Cross College: 13
U17 Final:
1st Place: Fatima
2nd Place: Hillview
3rd Place: Holy Cross
Top Scorer: Zackary Julien with 8 points
U20 Final Results:
1st Place: Holy Cross
2nd Place: Pleasantville
3rd Place: QRC
Top Scorer: Jarvis Caraciolo with 10 points
Allison Bastian, president of the TTSBA, expressed satisfaction with the successful execution of the first edition of the 3x3 national competition.
According to the release, she said, "We are thrilled to have launched this competition. While we encountered challenges, we are committed to making it even better and more exciting in the future."
The TTSBA release said the association was looking forward to building on this year's success and continuing to promote basketball excellence among the nation's youth.
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